Liverpool vs Chelsea 23/07/20

23 July 2020

Liverpool and Chelsea will face off against each other at Anfield this midweek in a penultimate round of the 2019/20 Premier League season.

The hosts have gone from back-to-back Premier League triumphs to two straight games without a win (D1, L1), with each of those results (win/loss) seeing the winner on the day score precisely two goals in one half. Not only that a shock 1-1 draw with Burnley took away Liverpool’s chance of closing the season with a 100% win-rate on home turf (W17, D1), but the Reds now face a formidable challenge of a Chelsea side they’ve failed to beat in six of their last seven top-flight H2Hs held at this venue (D4, L2). Interestingly, five of those seven clashes have featured under 2.5 goals, which has been true in six of Liverpool’s last ten Premier League home games. Yet, if Jurgen Klopp’s men win here, they are likely to break Chelsea’s defense at least twice, as 16 of their 17 league home wins this term saw them score over 1.5 goals.

Meanwhile, the visitors head to Anfield on the back of a 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals, which now means they’ve won seven of nine competitive games since the resumption of football in June (L2). Curiously, the majority (66.67%) of those outcomes produced a narrow one-goal margin (6/9), which has been the case in five of Chelsea’s last six Premier League away results (W3, L3). Notably, though, the Blues boast the division’s second-best away attack, having netted an average of 2 goals per Premier League trip this term. Additionally, Frank Lampard’s players have scored over 1.5 goals in a league-high 12 of 18 league away games this season, with 52.78% (19) of their 26 top-flight away goals bagged coming before the break.